Is this /really/ pure love?

Well love does tend to give freely, forgive easily, hope for the best for the beloved, and look to see the best in the loved ones.

~ However ~
The words in the pic could be a sideways way of demanding unconditional support of anything those you care about decide to do (no matter how unloving, sinful. or just plain rotten.) There do have to be limits somewhere, because even the best people will make bad choices sometimes. When you ask them to turn from what you see as doing evil, the basis of these words could be used to accuse you of having only 'conditional love,' talking with intention, giving of yourself in order to influence, and so on. Can you honestly care and not respond if what the loved one is doing is going to hurt them and/or others? Asking someone you care about to take a better course is an action of love, not a condition or an expectation that holds your love hostage. When you care, you do generally hope that the one(s) you care about will not seriously turn away from the ethics & decency that you valued in the first place. Speaking the truth as kindly as you know how can still be called the opposite, because it isn't praise and they didn't want to hear it. and so on...

Best to compare statements like this with 1 Corinthians: 13

1I f I speak in the languages of humans and angels but have no love, I have become a reverberating gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing. 3 Even if I give away everything that I have and sacrifice myself, but have no love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is always patient;
love is always kind;
love is never envious
or arrogant with pride.

Nor is she conceited,
5 and she is never rude;
she never thinks just of herself
or ever gets annoyed.
She never is resentful;
6 is never glad with sin;
she’s always glad to side with truth,
and pleased that truth will win.b

7 She bears up under everything;
believes the best in all;
there is no limit to her hope,
and never will she fall.
8 Love never fails.

....
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways. 12 Now we see only an indistinct image in a mirror, but then we will be face to face. Now what I know is incomplete, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13: 1- 13 ISV

INFJ Panda

Once again I get the INFJ result. I am (still) Panda! Watch me eat bamboo! LOL Oh well, at least I'm cute & cuddly! (in a friendly, roly-poly way :)

      Actually, the write-ups (including the friendship, work, strengths etc) do describe me very well. I am still puzzled by how much I regard as choices (like idealism) are said to be a part of this 'personality type.' Perhaps this quiz reflects a mix of nature and worldview? Apparently I am the rarest type too (only 1% of the population is estimated to be INFJ.) That might explain why so few people understand where I'm really coming from. heh

This is the direct link for my result http://www.16personalities.com/INFJ-personality

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The Arcane Front

Personality Type—Which are you?
[Full-size image: http://devsmt.wikispaces.com/MBTI

]

Take the test (Bryers-Briggs Type Indicator): http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Type Descriptions (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: 16 Total): http://www.16personalities.com/type-descriptions

I'm an INTJ, which one are you?

ENFJ - sensitive, The Actor
ENFP - procrastinator, The Reporter
ENTJ - confrontational, The Pioneer
ENTP - dangerous, The Inventor
ESFJ - controlling,The Enthusiast
ESFP - lazy, The Ambassador
ESTJ - unemotional, The Director
ESTP - unpredictable, The Conqueror
INFJ - scared, The Empathic
INFP - avoidant, The Romantic
INTJ - impassive, The Analyst
INTP - vicious, The Observer
ISFJ - overworked, The Guardian
ISFP - nonverbal, The Peacemaker
ISTJ - impatient, The Pragmatist
ISTP - risky, The Artisan

 

Hidden In The Bubble

Paul Simon's Graceland album is still the best I ever heard from him, and one of my all time favorite cds. "Graceland" & "Call Me Al" are the most famous tracks from it, but he's actually got much better ones on there, most notably "The Boy in the Bubble" - which is an awesome title because it gets right into the way we naturally cocoon ourselves away from trouble, turning away and concentrating on the shiniest aspects of life.

Paul Simon's song hits on several levels at once, all of them fairly deep. Its a remembrance of the forgotten. Its a recognition of the disparity in life experience between those drinking in the frequent announcements of amazing devices and discoveries of our civilization and those struggling to survive on its fringes. Its the echo of all the times we feel threatened/scared of the threats in the news, and the way the reporters lighten up the reports of impending WWIII, disease, city bombings, lost lives of our soldiers, natural disasters etc with beautiful pics from the Hubble telescope or some cool dancing robot from Japan or the latest medical breakthroughs. Its all that and more, and the fact that a lot of the song's musical complexity is inspired by African folk music just seems perfect somehow.

Its been a lot of years since this album came out, since this music video was made, and it just amazes me that both are every bit as relevant now as when they came out, maybe even more so.

Maybe you saw Graceland on someone's "100 albums you should hear before you die" list? Yes, it really IS that good. Just felt like sharing.

Good Thoughts from FB

Just a selection of photo/thoughts from the feed I thought were worth saving. Many times the quotes are unattributed.

(photo below) from

"There is a difference between giving up and knowing when you have had enough"


quote from pic below is  ― Abbey Lee Kershaw

"Most people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them"

(both photos below) from

(photo below) from

Susan's Thoughts:: It is true that love is most important, but a working brain is also on the short list of highly valuable assets, whether used to help yourself or others. You don't have to choose between intelligence and affection/kindness.

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Our understanding of life grows in ironic soil. We know happiness best after experiencing sadness. We value a presence the most in its absence. We remember the peace of silence when it is noisy and appreciate the vibrancy of noise in silence. We appreciate what we had the most when it is gone.
(I am paraphrasing several statuses with this one)

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(photo below) from

Two things define you: your patience (perseverance) when you have nothing and your attitude (gratitude) when you have everything.
(photo below) from

(and who will help you repack with better stuff!)
 (photo below) from

every woman must also decide if she will walk in the the light of creative altruism...
(photo below) from

"What you are is a complicated girl with simple needs. You need your books and time to read, and you need a few friends and someone - not to take care of you but to care for you. If you have all those things, you'll always be alright."

― Brian Morton, Breakable You 

(photo below) from

(photo below) from

Yep! Show respect and kindness to friends, family, strangers, and even enemies (though the active kindness part has to be done with caution/wisdom.) Christ calls us to love our neighbors, just as Christ first loved us. Not one of us deserved such grace before His cleansing, healing, & redemption, so let us show what grace and mercy we safely can to those in our lives. (This doesn't mean you can't defend yourself from those who would hurt you.)  (photo below) from

(photo below) from

Poe Boy

[above photos from] Good observation. Its hard to be 'cool' if you deeply care - about any principles, God/faith, creature, person, cause, geek-dom, community(ies) or related company(ies) - most especially if you fear for their future success/safety/salvation/creative direction etc. The human heart runs hot! Conversely, its easy when there are no deep emotional attachments to be lighthearted about it. Strong affection, respect, and commitment can change the world, but very often the world prefers to keep its relationship options open. ;)


>The Art of Illusion! photo below from
>http://creativepixar.blogspot.com/

 "So, I told him my name again and get this guys! He gets all excited and says..." quoth the Raven Nevermore

Dream Home?

When the subject of dream homes came up, I often haven't had much of an opinion. I think I liked French Provencal for a while as a tween, and leaned toward Neo-Classical for years, but only as an ideal. I have seen the inside of enough well maintained Federalist-style homes to realize that too much formalism is not something I'd want to live with daily. I loved the big Victorian-era mansion/farmhouse where I lived as a little one (with our friends), and for years I thought that's what I'd go for if I won the lottery or something, but I also loved that old log cabin mill-house in the country. I have fantasized about about cave homes, island getaways, hobbit homes in the hills, big tree houses... (but never that weird giant wasp ball in Riven ;)

I've been thinking about what kind of home I'd choose lately (if it was all up to me and I had lots of money) - largely because a FB friend has been exploring the idea for herself and sharing a dizzying array of photos featuring idealized settings in various styles. The stone and log cabin-y ones appeal to me most right now, with the tree-houses taking a close second. You know, like this one...

[ photo below is The old red grist mill, near Eminence Missouri
like>>>Most Amazing Pics in the World for more pic......]

or this... [image below taken from]

maybe with a waterfall like this nearby ^_^
[photo below from]

 

[image above from Ray Kellett Photography taken off FB from]

and the inside would be relaxing, spacious, inviting, sturdy, with plenty of textural interest... 

[photo below - Cottage
http://dreamdecorator.blogspot.com/2013/04/cottage.html

 

Dream Decorators ]

[photo above from

www.wholesaleloghomes.com

 

Teton Heritage Builders]

[image above from Loghome.com taken from ]

 hhmmm... I would so like a house like this, especially with less of the 2nd floor lost and a metalwork chandelier. (I'm not into hunting trophies.) I really like the stonework, the log cabin esthetic, and the backdrop of woods and misty mountains. Very relaxing! 

[photo below from]

Outside there would be flower planters like this...
[image below from]

and benches out in the lush yard...

[this bench image from New Funny & Amazing Pictures @ http://pics15.com/random

]

and a enclosed garden with walls of stone, where the herbs and roses grow...

[photo above from Old Moss Woman]

Movin' On

Bishop Tony Johnson's FB comment

 "Often people want you to forget what they have done to you and move on like nothing happened.These are individuals who really underestimate your pain because they are so selfish that they can not relate to it."

Susan's thoughts:: 

Unfortunately, that is sometimes the case. We still have to forgive and move for our own sake, but we don't have to forget it happened or pretend the relationship isn't mortally damaged because of it. It just irritates me no end that people will make noises like this when they never tried to apologize, never tried to repair the damage, or even tried to do deliberately good things to offset the damage they did. Even the silly monkey in the old Curious George books understood the value of that last concept.

photo below from

On the bright side, this "Never Apologize!" policy from some makes it easier to appreciate others who may have misbehaved but did make an effort to be nicer than they were once rotten, actually apologized and behaved better afterward, or who simply cooled a bit when slander was said to them but refused to act on it (and warmed up later) 

photo below from

They aren't that hard to tell apart... I suppose this is a useful exercise when hard times finally end, but you still have to forgive and move on with your life. Not sure why the artist put the 'bad red' on the middlin' sin, those who actively contributed to making your life worse are the ones you really need to watch out for. 

My Scale
the worst- caused the hardships or actively made your trials much worse. betrayal
middlin' callous - abandoned you when you needed them. blew off your pain
smallest - did far less than they could have, even in encouragement, but stuck around at least!

Best- tried to help as they could, and let you know they cared about what you were going through.

 There are more kinds of people than that anyway. There are those who vaguely wished you better days but couldn't be bothered to say so. There are those who would bother to say encouraging things, but that was it (and maybe you barely knew each other so that wasn't strange.) People who tried to help but really couldn't because they had too many troubles of their own....
  
- and then. of course, are the millions/billions who never knew you in the first place, so your problems weren't even on their radar!

 photo above from

Summer Tips

Saving these possibly useful tips for warm weather times.  I got them on FB, but saving here so I can locate them later on, as earlier posts are definitely harder to find on Timeline since the last change. [They now decide which ones are highlights and hide all others :P ]


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more summer drinks to try!

SPRING CLEANSE YOUR BODY

If you really want to cleanse then DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. Here are 8 home made vitamin water recipes to help you keep the water flowing!

As a rule, you should try to avoid as much as possible industrial food and beverages

1) The classical : lemon/cucumber:
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cucumber and a lemon, thinly sliced + 1/4 cup fresh finely chopped basil leaf + 1/3 of finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

2) The granite : Strawberry/Lime or Raspberry/Lime
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 6 strawberries / 0r Raspberries and one thinly sliced lime + 12 finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

3) The digestive : Fennel/citrus
First: infuse 1 to 3 grams of dried and crushed fennel in 150 ml of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + lemon juice (put the leftover lemon in the mix) + a small thinly sliced orange + 12 fresh chopped mint leaves + the infusion of fennel seeds. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

4) The antiOX : Blackberry/Sage
Note that a part from the berries, sage leafs is the herb that has the highest antioxidant content.
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of blackberries that have been very slightly crushed + 3-4 sage leaves. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

5) Watermelon : watermelon/Rosemary
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of watermelon cut into cubes + 2 rosemary stems. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

6) The exotic : Pineapple/Mint
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of pineapple cut into cubes + 12 fresh mint leaves finely chopped. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

7) The traditional : Apple/cinnamon
Mix in a pitcher : 10 cups of water + 1 cup of apple cut into cubes + 2 cinnamon sticks + 2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

8.) The zingibir : Ginger/tea
In advance: heat 1 teaspoon of ginger in two cups of tea, let it cool down.

Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water with two cups of the ginger tea + 4-5 pieces of fresh ginger cut into cubes. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Join us here for more every day fun, tips, recipes, weight loss support & motivation

>>> http://bit.ly/Motivate-Me

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These seem to be good tips! Specifically, I have used tips 1, 5, 6 with success.
Usually what is handy is Benadryl cream or aloe vera gel/sap both of which work very well. One aloe vera bottle also has lidocaine in it used for the very bad bites and medium burns, When those were out or got lost I have tried using tea & bananas on bug bites, and it did help. We've only used the baking soda trick on wasp & bee stings.   

Due to how terrible the Mosquito's are this year I am posting this so many of you will know how to treat the area if you or your child are bitten by a mosquito, not everyone is allergic to mosquito bites but for those who are it can be a miserable time. The best and Natural way to treat an insect bite is to use one of the following:

1.) Place a used dry teabag on the bite.
2.) Rub Raw Honey on the bite.
3.) Apple Cider Vinegar, use a cotton ball and apply to the bite.
4.) Baking Soda, this is the cheapest and being a dry powder can be stored in your pantry for years. Take a small amount and add a little water to make a paste and apply the paste to the bite.
5.) Take the skin of a Banana and rub the inside part of the banana peel on the bite.
6.) Take a leaf off of an Aloe Vera plant and rub the bite with the leaf of the plant.

I hope these $$$ Saving and Natural Eco-Friendly Ideas help!

For healthy recipes, tips, motivation, fun and friendship join us here http://www.facebook.com/groups/skinnynow/

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Lime & cloves is worth trying at the picnic table. Here are some other suggestions. We have actually tried planting citronella plants, marigolds, rosemary and lemon grass and they all cut down on the number of mosquitos hanging around, especially the citronella. Nothing is an ironclad cure, of course

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf/Pest_Control/Mosquitoes/Repelling-Mosquitoes.html

Have a mosquito problem??? At your next outdoor gathering try this SAFE and EFFECTIVE method of keeping mosquitoes at bay! Simply slice a lime in half and press in a good amount of cloves for an ALL NATURAL mosquito repellent... Make sure to SHARE THIS with your friends!

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 You should drink at least three 8 oz glasses per day, they say the longer it sits, the better it tastes. You can eat them as well but they are intended as flavoring and still work, so that is a personal choice. The Vitamin C turns fat into fuel, the tangerine increases your sensitivity to insulin, and the cucumber makes you feel full. Try it for 10 days and see what you think!

Ingredients per 8 oz serving

Water
1 slice grapefruit
1 tangerine
½ cucumber, sliced
2 peppermint leaves
Ice – as much as you like

Directions
Wash grapefruit, tangerine cucumber and peppermint leaves. Slice cucumber, grapefruit and tangerine (or peel). Combine all ingredients (fruits, vegetables, 8 oz water, and ice) into a large pitcher.

Stir & Enjoy!

For more healthy recipes, tips, motivation and fun, join https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingskinnywithcourtney/

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Susan:
I can't drink grapefruit juice, but I was talking over this very recipe with a few ladies online and we figured that exchanging that for berries, pineapple slices. or mango might work.

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I think I will try this. We've been using simpler and natural cleaning alternatives right along, for family health reasons. A commenter mentioned that adding garlic cloves and cayenne pepper to the mix also discourages ants.
Yes, we already used vinegar - I just never steeped citrus peels in it. other suggestions I may use later (saved from comments on the original site) - tea tree oil, thieves' oil, other citrus peels like lemon, mandarin orange, & tangerine...

Natural Cleaner

Orange peels and vinegar in a quart jar, let stand for ten days, strain and put in recycled spray bottle. Easy, inexpensive, smells good, and is tough on scum.

Dilute with equal amount of water. For stronger version be aware of asthmatic effects.

Also a pinch of salt salt makes a decent abrasive if you need some extra scrubbing power.

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I wonder if this will actually work? Worth a try this summer...

Yay!! It's Spring!! Time to get ready for Mosquito invasions.

Here's an easy & pleasant repellent recipe you can make at home:

Combine in a 16 oz bottle:
15 drops lavender oil
3-4 Tbsp of vanilla extract
1/4 Cup lemon juice.
Fill bottle with water.
Shake.

Ready to use. Make some extra to gift to your neighbors, family & friends. (Trust me.. it'll be appreciated!)

Share this on your wall so you'll have it handy when it's needed.

HAPPY SPRING Y'ALL!!

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Its good plan for a picnic too!

MY NEWEST LUNCH OBSESSION!!!!! Utterly brilliant, people. Not only does SALAD IN A JAR save space in your fridge, it also reduces food waste and gets non-salad eaters (me) to mow down daily.
THE ARRANGEMENT
From BOTTOM to TOP:
Dressing
Shredded carrots
Cherry tomatoes
Sunflower seeds
Hard boiled eggs
Baby spinach
DIRECTIONS
1) Arrange ingredients in a large mason jar
2) Store in fridge for up to a week
3) When ready to eat: shake jar, place on a plate, and eat!

You can make any arrangement you want… you can add red onion, cucumbers, radishes or peppers. Always remember to put the dressing at the bottom and the lettuce at the top—a MUST.

****NOTE**** If your making a few salads at a time for the week, you MUST remember to vacuum seal the Mason Jars. (Mason jars can be bought at Wal-mart, and various grocery stores) They must be vacuum sealed to remain fresh and crisp

Here are two different ways to vacuum seal a mason jar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhb1gfVSB9Y
Non Foodsaver vacuum seal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMDfyRjfBbc